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Who's Who - Maurice Sarrail

General Maurice Sarrail (1856-1929)
ensured that he received a prominent command position during World War One
via the simple expedient of his openly socialist views. Having thus
endeared himself to the political elite, this mandated that a senior command
position be assigned to Sarrail by the then Commander in Chief of the French
Army, Joseph Joffre,
once war was declared in August 1914.

This caused Joffre some difficulty, since he personally disliked Sarrail,
and was aware of Sarrail's position as open critic of his management of the
French army. His solution was to despatch Sarrail to the
Ardennes in
August 1914. His troops there fought an effective defensive action,
leading to his promotion to command of Third Army at the end of August.

Joffre however chose to remove Sarrail from command of Third Army the
following year. The resultant political backlash brought Sarrail
command over the 'Army of the Orient' intended for Gallipoli but which was
ultimately despatched to Salonika during the autumn. He took command
in October 1915; from January 1916 he was handed command of all Allied
forces in the region.

Poor Allied communications somewhat hampered Sarrail during his sole major
offensive in Salonika, at Monastir in November 1916.

Indulging in political
intrigue throughout, Sarrail's tenure as commander was brought to an abrupt
- and surprisingly a politically inconsequential - end by Prime Minister
Georges Clemenceau
in December 1917.

Sarrail thereafter retired from public life, reappearing (briefly) as French
High Commissioner in Syria, where he was most unsuccessful.